A couple of months ago (in mid winter) I had to move a huge "Fantin
Latour" so took 9 cuttings just in case it didn't come back this
spring (it is going to survive - lovely fat buds just about to burst
forth - southern hemisphere just in case the seasons sound confusing).

I put all the cuttings in a 9 inch pot with some sharp sand and some
potting mix and put bent wires over the top and then encased the lot
in plastic bags over the top and round the bottom. All 9 now have
leaves and are straining at the top of the plastic bags.

The normal advice is to put then in the ground in a similar way and to
dig them up and pot on after a year so that roots have time to
develop. Given how dry it is here over summer and no likely spots
where they would survive for long in that sort of setting, (I've
killed lots of rose cutting trying to do it the "right" way in the
past) I'm wondering what I should do to keep these cuttings alive and
well long term till they are ready to go it alone????

Should I leave them in the pot and put higher wire and a bigger
plastic bag over the top or should I try to gently tap them out and
pot them up individually? My propagating area where they are
currently doing so well is an area under shade with good filtered
light.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
from "Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow contains these words:

A couple of months ago (in mid winter) I had to move a huge
"Fantin
Latour" so took 9 cuttings (snip)


I would very carefully slide the pot off to see if any roots are
showing yet at the edge of the compost. If not, slide it back on
again.

The plastic bag is only to reduce the amout of water loss from
transpiration, while the cuting has no roots to replace that water,
IYSWIM. Once the cutting starts putting out new leaves that
indicates it
has made enough roots to support new leaves. At that stage, the risk
is
that the extra humidity inside the bag may encourage moulds and rot
the
tender new leaves. It's usual in a UK climate to gradually
acclimatise
the cuttings to normal atmosphere by opening the cover, let air in
for
a few days then remove it. In Aus you may have to be extra vigilant
they
don't get too dry; mist the leaves daily with water etc (as well as
watering the soil) and keep them out of wind and under shade.

If you slide the pot off, and see a fine net of white roots all
the
way round it, I still wouldn't be tempted to single out such young
soft
cuttings at this time of (your) season. It would be too much of a
double
whammy. I'd harden off the leaves a little as described, than take
off
the old pot, plant the whole "pie" of soil, undisturbed, into a
much
bigger pot and grow the cuttings on until autumn. Then single them
out
so that they have time to get their roots established before winter.

I'm slightly worried that what works in Scotland's climate may
not be
transferable to NSW, though :-)

Thanks Janet. Sounds like good advice. If I keep the plants out of
the hot sun and remember to water them then they should survive OK.
I've had plants survive my sloppy care in my propagating area for long
stretches of time.